| dc.description.abstract | This thesis constitutes a study of the management
of local authority housing estates in Kenya with
particular reference to Mombasa, Kisumu and Thika
Municipal councils. The study is not a comparison of
the various municipalities but an examination of their
problems of housing management. It examines the day to-
day management problems of providing local authority
housing estates, their utilisation and preservation
in the light of existing local authority set up and
available resources.
There are three parts to this study. The first
section comprises the introductory chapter covering
the general introductory formalities of the study.
It sets the premise against which the performance of
the local authorities is examined. This is followed
by a chapter giving background information on the housing
development process in Kenya and the various roles
played by the central government and local authorities.
At the moment the role of the local authorities has
been found to pe minimised to that of mere recipients
of the finished housing units with hardly any chance
of participation in deciding what form of housing they
need. The chapter concludes with the significance of
these roles to the eventual management of the estates
by the respective local authorities.
The second part of the thesis consists of three
case studies. The case study method has been chosen
because it is easier to deal with in greater detail and
understand the complexities involved in few big
municipal councils than to trot round the country
collecting data from all the 79 councils some of
which like the county councils, are not even involved
in housing management work. Each of these case studies
portrays unique problems related to its size, magni- .'
tude of housing operations and man-power resources.
Mombasa is one of the oldest councils in Kenya
and is the second largest town next to Nairobi in terms
of physical size, population,and the number of council
owned residential units. Kisumu is the third largest
town after Nairobi and Mombasa standing on the shores
of Lake Victoria. It has relatively fewer houses than
either Mombasa or Thika but the houses are more modern
in design and construction. Thika is a relatively
young municipal council, constituted in 1967. Although
it is the sixth largest town in Kenya in terms of
population size, it ranks third only to Nairobi and
Mombasa in terms of industrial development. Its
experiences are those of a rapidly growing industrial
town.
The data and information for these case studies
were collected between December 1976 and September
1977 mainly through recorded information, interviews
and field observations. The results obtained in the
main revealed similar characteristics. Housing
management is undertaken on an "ad-hoc" basis without
any basis for performance. Housing management
functions are therefore not well developed with the
result that housing estates are badly managed to the
detriment of both council and tenants. In all the
councils the staffing in the housing operations is
unsatisfactory not only in terms of number but also
in terms of training This coupled with the above
characteristics have rendered the provision of ,this
important service in the local authorities in effective.
This has had unpleasant implications to the national
housing policy of providing every household with a
decent dwelling,
The theoretical concepts defined in section one
and the empirical findings collected in section two
are brought together and synthesised in the third
and final part of the thesis, It is here discussed
the directions which housing management work should
take. It is considered that good housing management
should be an integral part of a national housing
policy , Lack of such a policy renders the achievement
of housing policy objectives difficult, The final
part of this study is a summary of the recominendations
and conclusions | en_US |
